Ozzfest 1997

Some may consider heavy metal music to be dead, but if they had
been at the opening show of Ozzfest 1997, they would have realised
that not only is metal alive and healthy, but that it has mutated and
evolved into different forms that represent a far cry from its origins
almost 30 years ago.

The evolution of metal was exemplified at Ozzfest 1997 because of
its diverse lineup, which consisted of underground bands like Drain
S.T.H. and Neurosis, who were relegated to the second stage, and
platinum-sellers like Pantera and Ozzy Osbourne. Most of all, it
heralded the much-touted reunion of one of the most original and
inventive metal bands of all time, Black
Sabbath, with Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, and Geezer Butler. It was
this spectacle that a full crowd had come to watch at the Nissan
Pavillion in Manassas, VA.

There were two pleasant surprises for me at the show, and I'll begin
with them: Drain S.T.H. is a four-piece band from Sweden. The band,
which is all-female, combined catchy riffs with melodic vocals with
quite a bit of freshness and intensity, and proved to be a definite
crowd pleaser. This is a band with great commercial potential (they
have the looks, the hard edge, and the riffs) and I'd definitely keep
an eye out for them.

This was the first time I was seeing Neurosis, who have been in
the underground metal scene for a while now, and I was definitely
impressed. They were the most intense band of the entire show, and
perhaps the most intense band I've ever seen. At the end of Neurosis'
second set, three of the band members got together and jammed on the
drums in perfect syncrony, in a way that would have given King Crimson
a run for their money. Both Neurosis and Drain S.T.H. deserved to be
on the main stage.

The first band on the main stage was Powerman 5000, who sounded
like cheap clones of Rage Against the Machine and White Zombie. This was the band I was
least impressed with. They were followed by Machine Head, and although
they were better than the former band, the music wasn't something I
got into. For both these bands I had problems with the mix and that
made it all the more harder to get into them.

Next up was Fear Factory, and their set was
surprising as well. The last time I saw Fear Factory was when they opened for Iron Maiden, and
the band put on a more aggressive and ferocious show then. This time
around, frontman Burton Bell seemed a lot calmer (even though when he
was singing the veins in his forehead and neck appeared as if they
were going to pop out) and actually smiled every so often. The set
they played consisted of Demanufacture, Zero
Signal, Self-Bias Resistor, Replica,
and Scapegoat. As usual, I was impressed with Bell's
alternating vocal style between the growling death metal and the clean
vocals.

The best song Fear Factory played,
and one which I think heralds a great new direction for the band, was
Genetic Blueprint which is a remix of New
Breed from Demanufacture (which at least to
me seemed different from the remix on the Demanufacture Digipak). This
song combined electronic noise in what I considered to be a novel way
with the death metal sound of the band. Of course, as was pointed out
to me during the show, Neurosis actually did that a bit better.

Type O Negative provided a refreshing change of pace from the
manic aural assault of the previous bands. While most of the crowd
seemed unfamiliar with their music, they endeared themselves by
playing covers of The Doors' Light My Fire and Neil
Young's Cinnamon Girl.

I skipped most of Pantera (at least visually) because I don't
think very much of them. However, the last bit I caught was
interesting for the sole reason that huge chunks of lawn started
flying around (à la Woodstock
'94) displaying a remarkable complex/emergent phenomenon. I
thought the part where Phil Anselmo came back after the band had left
the stage and appealed to the crowd to stop throwing the chunks of law
around for Ozzy Osbourne's sake, saying they (Pantera) didn't mind it,
was cool.

Ozzy Osbourne's solo performance was the longest of the entire
festival. Before he took the stage they showed a video with him
parodying celebrities (Princess Diana) and movies (Pulp Fiction,
Forrest
Gump). The video was hilarious and was one of the
highlights of the day. Unfortunately, Osbourne failed to live up to
this level of intellectual humour for the rest of his performance,
resorting to a water cannon and pulling down his pants for cheap
laughs.

The songs he played, which were all well-executed, included
Bark at the Moon, Mr. Crowley, No More
Tears, Mama I'm Coming Home, and Crazy
Train (played to a backdrop video of the band way back before
Randy Rhoads' death and prefixed by Osbourne urging everyone to go
crazy for him). A notable exception from the set was Shot in the
Dark.

The band supporting Osbourne consisted of Mike Bordin (of Faith No More) on drums, Robert Trujillo
(of Suicidal Tendencies) on
bass and Joe Holmes on guitar. Bordin and Trujillo, of course, are
good musicians. I had never heard Holmes before but he too was really
good, playing all the Rhoads' parts with style. All in all, it was a
good set, but a bit too long. One of the things I liked in this set
was that instead of individual solos by the band members, an extended
jam was played that showcased the talents of the musicians
collectively better than a solo would have.

Finally, it was time to see the band we
had all come to see. Watching Black
Sabbath with Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, and Geezer Butler from the
third row was terrific. I never thought I'd see the day when Ozzy
Osbourne and Tony Iommi would smile at each other. The band riffed
through a set consisting of War Pigs (a song that is
profound in its impact even today), Sleeping Village (a
surprise), Snowblind, Sweet Leaf,
Black Sabbath, Children of the Grave,
Iron Man, and Fairies Wear Boots. They
played Paranoid for an encore.

Iommi was in top form, pulling out riff after riff, and solo after
solo. Geezer Butler's bass playing was demonic. And Mike Bordin, who
was replacing Bill Ward in the reunion, did a great job on the
drums. I cannot express in words how cleanly the music flowed, and how
smoothly it came together, even though there were awkward spots here
and there. This was a significant moment in my heavy metal
history.

While the overall experience was positive, a few things happened
that detracted from enjoyment of the show: First, Osbourne's water gun
definitely has to go. While it was okay the first couple of times, the
repeated dousing of water was annoying, especially when it happened as
Iommi was playing a cool solo. Second, the band needs to rehearse more
with Osbourne to smooth out the rough edges and get his vocals in
shape for a long set (or reduce the length of his solo set). Finally,
some moron during the encore decided to jump the stage and the crowd
followed Osbourne's instructions: chairs (and people) were ripped
apart as Paranoid was played. I acknowledge that without
Osbourne this show would never have happened, and I admire his stand
for Marilyn Manson (who was asked to be taken off the bill by the New
Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority), but I think the show would've
been better without the antics of both Osbourne and the crowd.

While Osbourne's vocals were fine during his solo set, I thought
he had problems during the Black
Sabbath set, particularly during Children of the
Grave. I also thought that his movement on stage was a bit
awkward. From what I hear, he recently had surgery done on his throat
and he has arthritis in his hip.

During the show, I was able to introspect on my tastes in music
and how they've changed. I realised that it's a lot easier for me to
get into older stuff than the newer stuff, and I realised why this is.
Songs like War Pigs and Paranoid are
timeless. They've undergone the process of selection from a large
population of songs and survived. I've never heard a lot of the
mediocre bands or songs from the 70s. A lot of the newer stuff from
the newer bands simply hasn't undergone the same selection and it will
take a while to sift the wheat from the chaff.

The Ozzfest is set up as a part carnival (Never Never Land), with some
games and a very noisy clown who also provided some comedic
entertainment. While the T-shirts and food items are terribly
overpriced, the bands themselves are definitely worth the price of the
ticket. I highly recommend checking it out, even if you're even
remotely into heavy metal music, not just to see the reunion of three
of the most influential names in rock, but also to check out newer
bands like Drain S.T.H. and Neurosis.